Pre-Order Recommended Books Available 2/17/14

February has had some great new books. If you haven't checked out the post for 2/10/14 - stop by because they are good. This week is no different - wonderful new releases and a 50th Anniversary of one of my Favorite books, The Giving Tree .


The Museum of Extraordinary Things: A Novel by Alice Hoffman. Available February 18, 2014. The E-book edition on Kindle releases March 1, 2014.


Mesmerizing and illuminating, Alice Hoffman’s The Museum of Extraordinary Things is the story of an electric and impassioned love between two vastly different souls in New York during the volatile first decades of the twentieth century.


Coralie Sardie is the daughter of the sinister impresario behind The Museum of Extraordinary Things, a Coney Island boardwalk freak show that thrills the masses. An exceptional swimmer, Coralie appears as the Mermaid in her father’s “museum,” alongside performers like the Wolfman, the Butterfly Girl, and a one-hundred-year-old turtle. One night Coralie stumbles upon a striking young man taking pictures of moonlit trees in the woods off the Hudson River.


The dashing photographer is Eddie Cohen, a Russian immigrant who has run away from his father’s Lower East Side Orthodox community and his job as a tailor’s apprentice. When Eddie photographs the devastation on the streets of New York following the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, he becomes embroiled in the suspicious mystery behind a young woman’s disappearance and ignites the heart of Coralie. With its colorful crowds of bootleggers, heiresses, thugs, and idealists, New York itself becomes a riveting character as Hoffman weaves her trademark magic, romance, and masterful storytelling to unite Coralie and Eddie in a sizzling, tender, and moving story of young love in tumultuous times.

Biscuit Loves the Library (My First I Can Read) by Alyssa Satin Capucilli and illustrator Pat Schories. Available February 18, 2014. I

t's Read to a Pet Day at the library! There are so many fun things to see and do! Biscuit plays with story-time puppets, visits with friends, and listens to recorded books. Before he goes, a librarian helps him find the activity that he loves most of all.

Biscuit Loves the Library , which means it's perfect for shared reading with a child. The easy-to-read, joyful tale of Biscuit—everyone's favorite little yellow puppy—will help cultivate a love of books and libraries in children who are learning to read.

 The book is suggested for ages 4 to 8. But I think the series is excellent for reading to your toddler.  Try Biscuit Storybook Collection, What Is Love, Biscuit? and Meet Biscuit!.

Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros?: 50th Anniversary Edition by Shel Silverstein. Available February 18, 2014.

A rhino makes the best kind of friend in this 50th Anniversary Edition of a cherished classic from Shel Silverstein. Looking for a new pet? Bored with cats, dogs, goldfish, gerbils, and hamsters? How about a cheap rhinoceros?

Shel Silverstein’s loving look at the joys of rhino ownership may convince you to be the lucky person who takes home this very, very unusual pet. This 50th Anniversary Edition features jacket art from the original 1964 edition, plus a commemorative anniversary sticker.

My Favorite book by Shel Silverstein The Giving Tree  is also available February 18, 2014. A Must Read! for all ages. I still have my copy in a special place in my library.

The Giving Tree with CD by Shel Silverstein.

"Once there was a tree . . . and she loved a little boy." So begins a story of unforgettable perception, beautifully written and illustrated by the gifted and versatile Shel Silverstein.

Every day the boy would come to the tree to eat her apples, swing from her branches, or slide down her trunk . . . and the tree was happy. But as the boy grew older, he began to want more from the tree, and the tree gave and gave.

Since it was first published fifty years ago, Shel Silverstein's moving parable for readers of all ages has offered an affecting interpretation of the gift of giving and a serene acceptance of another's capacity to love in return.

Perfect Lies (Mind Games) by Kiersten White. Available February 18, 2014. 

This explosive sequel to Mind Games which New York Times bestselling author Holly Black called "a brutal, exciting gem of a book," is perfect for fans of Sara Shepard's The Lying Game series. Perfect Lies is a lightning-fast, wickedly smart tale of two sisters trapped in a web of deceit.

For years, Annie and Fia have been in an endless battle for survival against the Keane Foundation. Now the sisters have found allies who can help them escape. But Annie's visions of the future and Fia's flawless instincts can't always tell them who to trust. The sisters can only rely on each other—and even their extraordinary gifts may not be enough to save them.


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The Mad Sculptor: The Maniac, the Model, and the Murder that Shook the Nation by Harold Schechter. Available February 18, 2014 and the E-book version releases March 1, 2014.

Beekman Place, once one of the most exclusive addresses in Manhattan, had a curious way of making it into the tabloids in the 1930s: “SKYSCRAPER SLAYER,” “BEAUTY SLAIN IN BATHTUB” read the headlines. On Easter Sunday in 1937, the discovery of a grisly triple homicide at Beekman Place would rock the neighborhood yet again—and enthrall the nation. The young man who committed the murders would come to be known in the annals of American crime as the Mad Sculptor.

Caught up in the Easter Sunday slayings was a bizarre and sensationalistic cast of characters, seemingly cooked up in a tabloid editor’s overheated imagination. The charismatic perpetrator, Roger Irwin, was a brilliant young sculptor who had studied with some of the masters of the era. But with his genius also came a deeply disturbed psyche; Irwin was obsessed with sexual self-mutilation and was frequently overcome by outbursts of violent rage.

Irwin’s primary victim, Veronica Gedeon, was a figure from the world of pulp fantasy—a stunning photographer's model whose scandalous seminude pinups would titillate the public for weeks after her death. Irwin’s defense attorney, Samuel Leibowitz, was a courtroom celebrity with an unmatched record of acquittals and clients ranging from Al Capone to the Scottsboro Boys. And Dr. Fredric Wertham, psychiatrist and forensic scientist, befriended Irwin years before the murders and had predicted them in a public lecture months before the crime.

Based on extensive research and archival records, The Mad Sculptor recounts the chilling story of the Easter Sunday murders—a case that sparked a nationwide manhunt and endures as one of the most engrossing American crime dramas of the twentieth century. Harold Schechter’s masterful prose evokes the faded glory of post-depression New York and the singular madness of a brilliant mind turned against itself. It will keep you riveted until the very last page.

I Recommend Amazon Prime!